Geek Culture: Life at the Googleplex

Ever think you have the wrong job? Even if you have an awesome job, with great pay and fantastic perks, you don't have anything compared to what the folks who work for Google do.

From amazing cafeterias to sleeping pods - yes, sleeping pods - Google employees definitely have it good. But besides being able to ride around the office on scooters, Google’s employees have another thing to be happy about. Google employees are the best-paid in the IT industry. In fact, they make 23% more than the IT industry's market pay average, followed by Amazon at 17%, and both Apple and Microsoft pay around 15% more than the average IT starting salary, according to a PayScale survey. So, if you can't get you can't get yourself a job at Google, there are still plenty of other places where you can get a fat paycheque.



Besides being paid significantly more than the average, Google employees also save money in tons of other ways, making their paychecks last longer. For example, Googlers don’t have to pay for their meals at the office. They have a wide array of chef-prepared choices, some of which come from produce grown right at the office. Employees can eat breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for free. They even have barbeques during the summer. So, Google employees can save on groceries.

In addition, they also have multiple gyms and trainers at the office, so there’s another major expense to cross off the list. Going to the doctor won’t cost you a dime either and you won’t have to make time to leave the office to visit your doc. Google has its own doctor on hand to help them out. If you don’t have time to do your laundry during the work week, you can just take it with you to work and do it at Google. Yes, you’ll still have to do your own laundry, but it’s free, and you can do it between making your own cappuccinos and espresso. You can also drop your laundry off for dry cleaning, alterations, and also shoe repair, which we assume will cost you something.

Besides saving money on food, coffee, fitness, health, and laundry, the Google office also has other perks, like sleep pods for taking naps, a masseuse on hand that gives you a free massage on your birthday, and use of a fleet of Toyota Prius hybrid cars. We could go on and on about why Google is an awesome place to work, but instead, you can just drool over the video below from the Travel channel.


There's a video on YouTube about life at the Googleplex, but I'll save you the hassle of hunting it down. While you watch it, I'm going to go talk to my boss about some changes that need to be made around here.

 

Technology: Google's Self-Driving Car

Google has been working hard at developing a self-driving car (as if we really needed something to make us more lazy! But since this is actually pretty cool, tech-wise, we're going to plug along anyways) and they've been doing a pretty bang up job of it.

Clearly, the good folks at Google want to take over the world. Not happy with just running the world's most awesome search engine, they've moved into other realms of the tech market, with their Google Earth, Chrome web browser, the Android smartphone OS, Chrome OS for laptops and tablets, Google Cloud... and so on.

Self-driving cars are very definitely part of the future we’ve been promised, at least according to that most timeless of visionary glimpses into mankind’s technological future, and this may be the first step we see in finally getting to the long-promised flying car.

Google's been quietly pestering the state of Nevada to allow the usage of their vehicles. There are two bills in the Nevada legislature relating to this. The bills would also allow users of self-driving vehicles to text while sitting behind the steering wheel – the one they wouldn’t be using. Additionally, the bills would allow users to operate the self-driving vehicles by programming a destination and letting the vehicle drive there without human intervention.

Look, Ma, no hands!

Google noted that their fleet of self-driving vehicles have already been active on roads in California, and even brought out a Las Vegas lobbyist to discuss how the vehicles could increase fuel efficiency and decrease accidents. In the long term, self-driving vehicles that are connected to a network that’s aware of traffic and road conditions could automatically optimize a "driver's" commute based on traffic, construction delays, and other obstacles on the roads. This also ties in to Google working with Ford to get its Prediction API into cars.

Although Google's team says that the tech is at least eight years away from being in your car, the technology is already impressive. The New York Times, in fact, saw one of these cars in action: a Prius (no one's going to miss a Prius if the test fucks up) equipped with numerous sensors that was following a route programmed into the GPS navigation system flawlessly.

According to the New York Times:

It drove at the speed limit, which it knew because the limit for every road is included in its database, and left the freeway several exits later. The device atop the car produced a detailed map of the environment.
The car then drove in city traffic through Mountain View, stopping for lights and stop signs, as well as making announcements like "approaching a crosswalk" (to warn any human currently asleep at the wheel) or "turn ahead" in a pleasant female voice.

I would like to think that these cars would be the real life equivalent of KITT from TV's Knight Rider (the one with the Hoff, not that crappy remake) and be the most badass thing on the planet, but I have this sneaking suspicion that it's one bug away from being more like HAL and end up driving your sleeping ass right off a bridge. Yay, clouds.

Technology: A New Way to Communicate

The mouse and keyboard were invented before the Internet even existed. Since then, countless technological advancements have allowed for much more efficient human computer interaction. Why then do we continue to use outdated technology? Introducing Gmail Motion -- now you can control Gmail with your body. Capitalizing on the massive success of the Wii, PS3 Move and Xbox Kinect, Google has designed a mail program that moves you.

How it works
Gmail Motion uses your computer's built-in webcam and Google's patented spatial tracking technology to detect your movements and translate them into meaningful characters and commands. Movements are designed to be simple and intuitive for people of all skill levels.

Motion Guide
Familiarize yourself with some of the basic functionality of Gmail Motion using this printable guide of sample gestures. With it, you'll be able to start writing and responding to emails – with your body – in no time.

If you haven't figured out that this is Google's attempt at an April's Fools prank, then you are clearly as dumb as you look.

Entertainment: Google Music

After much talk and speculation as to when this might happen, a number of music industry sources are saying that Google has reached a point where its employees are testing a new Google Music service, which would allow users to buy and store music in the cloud, making the songs accessible from just about any web-connected device including your PC, tablet or smartphone via streaming.

For those who don't know what "The Cloud" is, it refers to "Cloud Computing", where information is stored and presented to the users in a simple way that is easy to understand without the users needing to know how the services are provided. This simplified view is called an abstraction. Similarly, cloud computing offers computer application developers and users an abstract view of services that simplifies and ignores much of the details and inner workings. A provider's offering of abstracted Internet services is often called "The Cloud".

 

 

Proof that Google Music exists was found a couple of weeks ago when a user on the XDA Developers forums did an update to the latest build of Android Honeycomb and a new music option appeared and started syncing with his collection. It turns out that it was indeed a working version, the insiders have said, although the final version will likely look a little different.

Such a service from Google has been widely speculated about for years, and at one point we thought it may launch last year, but the main problem with launching such a service is getting the major music labels to sign up to licensing and royalty deals. Negotiations with at least some of the top publishers and with the four largest record labels are still ongoing, with delays primarily due to the complexity of the subject matter: Google is after cloud music rights, and not just for songs acquired from Google Music.

Apple's iTunes has made no move to offer a cloud-based solution for streaming music yet, and that’s exactly what Google wants for its Music service. It’s new ground for the music publishers and therefore they are cautious of signing away their music to a large online database users can access forever. The fact that Google is thought to be testing Google Music internally does suggest progress has been made, though. If the service is working, then music publishers can see exactly how it functions and come up with a deal they are happy with, or changes they require. The issue then becomes can a deal be struck that both Google and the music industry is happy with?